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Center creates award for coverage of youth sports

June 16, 2009

Center creates award for coverage of youth sports

An award specifically recognizing creative, in-depth and innovative coverage of youth and high school sports by broadcast, print and online journalists has been created by the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State.

The inaugural Award for Excellence in Coverage of Youth Sports will recognize work produced or published in 2009, and entries must be submitted by Dec. 31, 2009.

With more than 40 million participants each year, youth and high school sports provide a form of athletic participation familiar to people across the United States. Those levels of sports represent growing area of focus for sports journalists, as well as a traditional entry point into journalism for college-aged students and recent college graduates.

The award is intended to honor work that displays creative, in-depth and innovative coverage of youth and high school sports—especially larger issues and trends related to those levels of athletic participation.

Specific entry details may be found at www.comm.psu.edu/sports online. The award winner will receive $1,000 and is expected to attend a ceremony in April to discuss the award-winning work with Center for Sports Journalism students and faculty at the University Park campus.

The John Curley Center for Sports Journalism in the College of Communications at Penn State, created in 2003, explores issues and trends in sports journalism through instruction, programming and research.

lectures, panels and workshops on sports journalism topics, including the role and impact of sports on society;

mentoring from working professionals and full-time faculty members;

on-campus sports journalism opportunities in broadcast and print;

off-campus sports journalism internships;

and research on sports journalism topics.

Malcolm Moran, the Knight Chair in Sports Journalism and Society, serves as the Center’s director. Four undergraduate courses comprise the core of offerings by the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism. Students who take advantage of the courses do so in state-of-the art classrooms and radio and TV studios. An important aspect of the Center’s mission goes beyond game stories and covering trends in sports. Its research component is headed by Marie Hardin, associate director of the Center and an associate professor of communications. The Center conducts regular studies and surveys about issues in sports journalism.